Read This Book…

Alex Easton, a sworn soldier now in retirement, has just received word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is gravely ill. They rush to the Usher ancestral home, a forlorn estate crumbling into ruin in rural Ruritania. There, Alex finds that not only is Madeline consumed by some peculiar wasting disease, but her brother Roderick is afflicted with a nervous condition and the local wildlife behaves very strangely. Alex also discovers a redoubtable English mycologist conducting research nearby (yes, there’s creepy mushrooms in this one), and an American doctor who is baffled by the whole situation. Time is not on their side as Alex tries to get to the bottom of what’s really going on.

Alex’s voice is delightful in this book — they’re a bit playful and humorous in how they recount their history and relate details of their world, keeping the book from being overly somber even as some really dark and serious events unfold. I loved their encounters with the various colorful characters, and how Kingfisher situates this novel in European history, giving enough clues to place the book in time while also being vague enough to play fast and loose with some details. The details of the plot and the setting are just peculiar enough to create a sense of unease, but when things take a turn they really get foreboding! This may be a brief book but it’s unforgettable and let’s just say I’ll never look at hares the same way again!